All In A Year
by BADWOLF22
Summary: Rose Tyler gets into an accident and lost her memory of the past year of drama and heartbreak since the final trip to Bad Wolf Bay. The Doctor has an important decision to make, will he let her think that everything is fine between them or will he risk her hating him all in the sake of honesty? Oh and I unfortunately do not the rights to Doctor Who..
1. The Approaching Curve

It's been a year since the day the Doctor and Donna dropped Jackie, the metacrisis doctor and Rose off on Darlig Ulv Stranden. It has been 6 months since the Doctor had last saw Rose. He works at Torchwood but never runs into Rose, both planning it that way. Until now.

He's taking a break from writing a report on some pods that landed in Cardiff recently when his assistant walks in his office.

"Excuse me, Doctor Noble?"

"Oh yes! What can I do for you Ms. Cooper?" The doctor gave her a cheeky smile.

"Mr. Tyler says to call him immediately. It's about Rose, she's been in an accident. He said he's been trying to call you..."

His assistant gives him a sympathetic look, she didn't know exactly what happened between the bosses daughter and John Noble but knew of the rumors. She exited his office as he dialed the telephone.

"Oh good, Doctor. I've been trying to get ahold of you."

"I unplugged the phone so I could concentrate. Pete, what's wrong with Rose?" The Doctor couldn't have given a more serious tone.

"Get a car and come down to the St. David's Hospital. She was in a car accident, blindsided by another driver...it's not looking good, I'm afraid. Critical care area."

"On my way Pete."

The doctor hung up the phone, grabbed his coat and headed out of the office. He faintly heard his assistant ask him something. He just kept walking quickly until he made it to the street several floors down and got into a taxi.

He had once promised Jackie Tyler to keep her daughter safe. Even though he probably broke that promise at least 5 times a week, he was always there to make sure that she got out of said trouble. This was different, if things would've worked out between them, maybe she wouldn't have gotten into an accident. Maybe he would've gotten into the accident with her.

'_Stop thinking so much...you're only hurting yourself you stupid man.'_


	2. Our Distance

A/N: So I hope the pacing will be okay. More chapters to come tonight. Enjoy!

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He rushes into the hospital, asking politely where Rose was. For a moment, he forgets that they were on bad terms. He still loves her very much, not a day goes by that he doesn't think of her. He purposely had a flat not far from where she lived just in case she changed her mind, that she _did_ want to see him.

He enters the private hospital room, he can't focus on whatever Jackie is crying to him about nor does he notice Pete's hand on his shoulder as he kneeled down beside Rose's bed taking her hand.

"Doctor. Parallel Earth to Doctor." Jackie tries to get his attention.

"Huh? What did you say?" The Doctor stands up and faces them.

"I'm glad you're here. She'd really like that when she wakes up." Jackie tries to smile and wipe away her tears.

The Doctor comes over and hugs her tightly. Up until a few months ago, they were pretty close and Jackie had helped the Doctor transition into a bit of normalcy and how to act like a human being. After the major fallout with Rose, it had become too hard to see Jackie.

After hugging her, he returns his gaze onto Rose. Her right arm was in a casting along with a neck brace and right leg casting.

"Tell me what happened to her."

Pete takes a deep breath and tells him. "Drunken fool hit her on her side of the car as she was going home from work early. She hasn't been staying until 4 these days...Her car flipped. She's extremely lucky to only have some broken bones and bruises...right now she's just sleeping after the doctors gave her some sedatives. She should be waking up in the morning or so..."

"She's a fighter."

"Indeed."

"I should've been there, you know. In her life. Maybe she wouldn't have left early...I never see her these days in the office. It is a big building but we used to run into each other...I miss her greatly..." The doctor wipes away some tears as he leans down beside the bed again.

Jackie puts her hand on his shoulder. "I know that she misses you too. We all do."

"I bet you never thought you'd say those words." The doctor sort of giggles out as he looks back at her.

"Hush before I take it back." Jackie smiles at him. "What happened between you two...I know that Rose couldn't just turn her feelings off for the other doctor but what she said about you being a fraud was wrong. She was just angry. She loves you, Doctor."

"No, I'm afraid not. She loves the other doctor, full Time Lord Doctor. Not metacrisis half time lord Doctor. The one with no job, no rent, a sonic screwdriver. It's alright now. I've learned to get over it."

Pete and Jackie knew that the Doctor was bluffing but they weren't going to fight him over it. For the longest time, the three of them sat in silence. Waiting for the blonde that stole their hearts to awake.


	3. Face To Face

They move Rose into a general hospital room sometime after. Pete managed to pull Jackie home later on as the Doctor promised to stay by her bedside until she woke up. To the Doctor, Jackie and Pete's sleep mattered a lot more to him than his own. He paces the floor.

By 4 am, she starts to stir but he doesn't exactly notice because he was tinkering with the tv connection. She doesn't know it's the Doctor, for his new style of clothing and the lack of proper grooming.

"Excuse me sir...Where's my mum? Blonde woman, long hair.." She weakly asks.

He suddenly drops the cable from the tv and looks at her in an innocent way. He forgot of everything that's happened to them as he smiled gently and walked over.

"I don't look that different, do I?"

"Sorry...I...I'm not used to seeing you in a track jacket and a beard..."

"It's not a bad look, is it?" He cheekily grins.

"It's...it's a good different."

"Thank ya, Rose Tyler. Now...how are you feeling? I must alert the doctors and call up your mum."

"I'm...I'm a bit confused Doctor."

"You...just called me Doctor..."

She laughs a bit. "Uh, yeah, I'm not daft. The doctor, time lord, the oncoming storm. I know you. I don't know how I got here though?"

Now he's confused. Did she really forget what happened? He wanted to pretend along with her that everything was fine but he didn't want to be something he wasn't.

"You were in a car accident. You were driving home from work and..."

"Wait, work? Since when do I work?"

'_Oh fuck, she's going to hate me all over again." _He thinks to himself.

"I must call the doctors. I'll be right back. I promise."

He hurries off into the hallway and yells for a doctor. A nurse jogs over to him and he tells her she must have amnesia. The nurse pages a doctor and the metacrisis calls the Tyler residence multiple times until Jackie picks up. He tells her what's happened and Jackie says they are on their way. He paces the hallway for a second and then heads into the room.

"Hiding from me when I need you, huh?" She smiles and pats the bed with her good hand.

He kneels down beside her, opposite from where the nurse is.

"Rose...What do you last remember?"

"I remember..." Then she looks at the nurse, knowing the next thing that comes out of her mouth will probably get her taken to the psychiatric ward for delusional thinking.

"Well, I remember finally finding you again. The best thing to ever happen to me. My Doctor." She smiles widely, a smile that the doctor has missed greatly.

"Rose, that was a year ago."

"What? It can't possibly have been."

"Try not to make her vitals spike up Doctor Noble. The doctor should be in very soon. I'll be back then and give you two some time." The nurse walks out the door. The Doctor gave her a thankful smile.

"So we defeated the big bad and I guess we retired together? Wow, all in a year. You really did that for me?"

"I wish it were like that, Rose..."

"Why do you keep speaking like you're walking on eggshells? Stop it and come out with it. You're worrying me, Doctor. Why did she call you Doctor Noble?"

"Because...in this world...My name is Doctor John Noble. It's only customary to call by name, yeah? We did defeat the Daleks though..."

"Wait, we're not...no. Why would we be in the parallel? Where's the TARDIS, Doctor?"

The Doctor stared at her fingers, lacing them into his fingers tightly. He can't remember the last time he held her hand but it felt fantastic.

"If we're in the parallel, where's my mum? Is she okay?"

He grinned at that question. "She's fantastic. She's on her way now with Pete. Or maybe Pete stayed back with Tony, I'm not really sure."

"Oh okay...wow, relief. Is Mickey on his way too?"

"Rose...he decided to stay back in the other Earth. He said that he was going to help out UNIT and there was nothing left here for him anymore. I'm really sorry."

"That's...wow."

They stay silent for a moment as she rubs her thumb over his hand.

"You really oughta shave, you know."

He chuckles. "I've been a bit too down to shave, honestly. You didn't like the way I looked before. So I changed...and I never saw you for a whole 6 months."

"What? That's hard to believe...because I'd be all...well, I'd be all over you. I love the way you look."

"If I were the same man, then maybe but I'm not. You made it clear."

"You're not telling me something...so come out with it."

"I will. I promise you Rose Tyler. We will talk as soon as Jackie and Pete come back."

The doctor and nurse walks back in. John Noble kisses Rose on her forehead and then moves away to let the medical professionals check out Rose. Not long after, Jackie comes in the room and kisses her daughter on her cheek. The Doctor steps out and puts his back to the wall.

"You really do look like hell."

"You would too if you were me, Pete."

Pete laughs at him. "I'm sure I would...but really, a beard?"

"She doesn't remember. The last thing she remembers is finding me back in the other dimension. She doesn't remember hating me, Jake."

Pete looked a bit taken aback from that. "Well, what are you going to say?"

"The truth."

"You already know how she's going to react."

"Yep." Letting the 'p' pop. "I'll deal with it. You should go say hi."

"You comin?"

"I...I think I should go home for a bit, get some sleep."

"I'll tell her you needed to sleep."

"No. No, just tell her...make something up."

Pete once again feels sorry for this man. The man who tried so hard to make his daughter from another world happy but failed because of her insecurities. He simply nods and enters the room. The doctor leaves to hail a taxi.

The Doctor is at a loss for words as he heads to his flat. He doesn't know how he's going to explain it, how hurt he will be when he has to look at her face to see her pain once again and he doesn't know if he can walk away from her again.


	4. Miserable At Best

A/N: I hope people are enjoying the story. Longer chapters coming. Reviews are definitely appreciated!

I do not own Doctor Who. :(

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He heads for the shower once he got back home. His anxiety elevates as he thinks of the car ride from Bad Wolf Bay.

"_Rose? Talk to me...we haven't since he left."_

"_Well, I'm sorry. I just...I don't know how this is going to work.' _

_He looked at Rose and took her hand, giving her a gentle squeeze and a smile. 'I promise, I'll wait as long as it takes. I'm not going anywhere Rose Tyler. I want to be your friend.'_

"_Just?"_

"_Well, not just but at first. You know, till you get used to this me...'_

_Rose smiles and puts her head on his shoulder and they sit in silence again._

The doctor smashes his hand against the mirror. _You'll have even more bad luck dumbass..._

He tosses in bed for what felt like hours, was really 40 minutes. He decides to trim his beard and heads back to the hospital and sees Jackie and Pete walking out.

"She's sleeping, Doctor. Come with us for some breakfast." Jackie didn't ask, she just demanded. She saw how skinny he now is, she knows no one is there to remind him to act like a human and eat three meals a day.

"Well, I..."

"Come on, Doctor." Jackie grabs his arm, pulling him with them.

He tunes them out as he eats some banana oatmeal muffins until Jackie slaps his arm.

"Sorry, what were you saying Jackie?"

"What are you going to tell her? I can't lie to my daughter, I told her you two haven't talk for a few months. I didn't get into the details, I'm leaving that bit for you."

"Was she mad I left?"

"She was confused." Pete chimed in. After this time, he's grown to love Rose, she was more than his step daughter.

Jackie looks at the tv and rattles off something about the news reporter. He laughs to himself how her attention span has probably gotten worse. He lets himself fade off into a daydream.

_The doctor is sitting at the breakfast table at the Tyler mansion reading the newspaper as he ignores Jackie's lecture to Tony on why it's not nice to hide mummies things. He looked for Rose that morning but her car was gone. Then she walks in and he can't help but smile at her. This is the girl he loves, the beautiful blonde that has only got more beautiful as she aged. His smile faded as he noticed she wasn't smiling at him._

'_Your new name is John Noble. Here's your birth certificate, license, diploma from Cambridge and keys to your new office at Torchwood. You're going to need a job so you can get your own place.'_

_He takes the manilla folder and looks at them as she puts the keys by him. She walks off to kiss Tony and her mother on their cheeks._

'_You're not going to call me Doctor anymore?' His single heart started to crack at this revelation._

'_I guess I can. Technically you're a real doctor now from Cambridge.'_

'_Right...'_

'_I need to go back to work. I'll be back for dinner.'_

'_How about we go out tonight? Fish and chips?'_

'_Maybe.'_

_Rose said bye to her mum and brother and gave a half smile to the now John Noble and left. He sat there completely dumbfounded. _

He shook his head, not a good day dream to have.

"Oi, you sleeping on us now? You didn't go home for long." Jackie said.

"I hardly ever sleep the full 8 hours. Maybe 4 hours. Well...it doesn't matter how many."

"Well, I told Ms. Cooper you weren't coming in for the next few days. You and Rose really need to catch up." Pete told him.

"What if I tell her the truth and she hates me? I don't think I can go through that all over again. The woman that changed my life hates me for not being full Time Lord."

"After you regenerated...she took it so hard. But you know what? She saw you were the same man she fell in love with. She'll do that again. Maybe this is your chance."

"All it took was for me to lose my hand."

Jackie smiles, Pete looks a bit dumbfounded.

"Say what?"

"That hand I grew out of?"

"Yeah?"

"It was chopped off by the Sycorax leader in the first 15 hours of my regeneration, well...the other doctor's regeneration. A friend of mine found it somehow, put it in a mini tank. Donna touched it and well...you know the story of that."

Pete shakes his head. Before he can reply, the Doctor excuses himself and thanks them for the muffins and heads to Rose's room. He paces the room for a while until Jackie comes in.

"You know, she's going to need her rest."

"I know. I'm just...debating what to tell her."

"Do you need me to stay here with you, Doctor?"

"You're leaving?"

"Well, if you're staying...I figured I should give you two some space."

"You sure..."

"Doctor, you can do this. I'll be up here after I've gotten some sleep. You call me if she wants me to come back up, yeah?"

He nods and she gives him a hug. After she exists, he sits down in the uncomfortable chair beside Rose's bed. He lays his head against Rose's good hand and closes his eyes. It must have been some time later because he woke up to a hand combing through his hair. He looks up to a smiling Rose.

"Good mornin' Doctor." Rose grinned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Fall asleep on my hand?"

"That and fall asleep."

Her expression fades into a slight confused look. She runs her hand along his scruffy face.

"You look so thin and I didn't think I'd see you all...hairy.

He chuckles. "I suppose...I forget to eat most days... and shave."

"When I'm out of here, we're going to fatten you up some."

They smile at each other.

"How are you feelin Rose? Are you in a lot of pain?"

"Some..."

"Well, let me go get the nurse yeah?"

She nods and he gets up in a hurry. The nurse comes in and gives her the first dose of painkillers and gives her a menu for breakfast.

"I'm trying to think of a reason why I wouldn't want to be around you...and I can't. Why wouldn't I want to hold your hand anymore, Doctor? And be honest."

In great detail, he tells her. The metacrisis, Bad Wolf Bay, how she couldn't readjust to this new doctor. How it hurt her too much to look at him and know the other doctor left her with him to make him better but how could _she_ make _him_ better when she was a wreck herself? She didn't take it well - again.


End file.
